


Pulling Strings

by NoGoodTuna



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bullying, Fluff, Friendship, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, Red String of Fate, tsukihina endgame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-18 08:07:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17577059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoGoodTuna/pseuds/NoGoodTuna
Summary: For as long as Tsukishima remembered, that red string was attached to his finger. It always gave him a certain indescribable feeling, a longing of sorts, that made him want to find a friend. However, he's yet to find anybody to satisfy that feeling. One day, it starts to have a mind of its own. It pulls him into a situation he doesn't want yet starts him on a path that lets him satisfy that need.





	Pulling Strings

Tsukishima never wanted to be special. He just wanted to be a normal average kid with friends who would happily play with him on a team or at home. However, with his height that made him the tallest person in his class every year, a grossly overbearing older brother that embarrassed him all the time, and an annoying red string attached to his finger, he found it difficult to be normal.

His height made people think he was standoffish while his stoic personality always made him seem aloof. Though whenever his doting dearest older brother was around and smothered him in brotherly love and affection, his façade collapsed into an embarrassed and flustered red-faced mess.  He made playing sports an embarrassing and god-awful experience. It was like he just had to remind the crowd just who exactly his brother was whenever he got even a whiff of the ball. And that string, while he thought he could catch a break with it, use it as a conversation starter to get to know his classmates or even teammates, it was often a source of being treated like he was strange and delusional. He was the only one who could see it.

Without any friends, Tsukishima always sat alone on a playground until it was time to go home. Swinging back and forth on a swing much too big for him, he stared at his finger and that red thread as if it were his pastime. For as long as he remembered its always been there, occasionally taut but other times loose. It was always angled as if it were attached to something. Sometimes it tugged him forward. He always wondered what was on the other side.

“Please stop! I didn’t mean any harm.” A boy’s frantic voice pulled him out of his thoughts. He looked at the bushes from where the sound came.

A kid’s sneer accompanied the sound of a kicked backpack.  “You walked in my way and almost gave me your freckles, freak.”

“Yeah, banana face!” The disgust was palpable in another kid’s voice.

Typical playground bullies, Tsukishima thought as he remained in place. Why step into something that didn’t involve him? Just as he finished that thought, a painful burning sensation ran through his finger. He winced as he gripped it.

“My, my, my bag, put it down!” Tsukishima’s finger stung even more as the boy pleaded in agony.

“I’ll put it down once you scrub those things off your face with rocks.”

The kid sniffled. “I, I, can’t.”

“Is that so? Don’t you want your games?  Cards? Then do it,” they said forcefully.

Tsukishima missed what was said next as he bent over when a sharp pain struck his finger. The string glowed a searing red like hot iron as it stretched taut towards and through the bush. His finger, no his body, acted on its own as if it needed to escape the pain. He followed the tug of the string to the bushes.

The boy wept as he gripped the pebble. Holding it up, he loudly gulped as he stared at it. He cast them a glance, hopeful they’d reconsider, but they only shook their heads. His tears flowed harder as he hiccupped and brought it closer his face.

“How pathetic.” Tsukishima glared condescendingly at the crying boy as he clutched a few of the bush’s branches, the pain of the thorns and thistles briefly overpowered the pain in his finger clearing his mind. “You’re actually going to do what they say? Can you sink any lower than this?”

The boy stared at him with total awe. The pebble fell from his hand, already forgotten.

“A high schooler?” The bullies stepped backwards as they stared up at Tsukishima.

“And you.” He stared down at them as if they were mere insects stuck on the bottom of his shoe. “Picking on someone for their looks? Have you looked in the mirror lately? Don’t judge someone unless you want to be judged, now scram, maggots.” He shooed them away dramatically moving his hands. Perhaps scared because of his height or what he said, they high-tailed it out of there.

Tsukishima fell to his knees once they left. The stress and tension hit him all at once. He didn’t realize confronting bullies could be so draining. Before he could reflect on it, however, he immediately clutched his finger, the searing thread wrapped around it slowly cooled. His gaze followed the still taut string and realized it went straight to the boy before him.

“Uhm, thank you?” He crawled forward, sniffing as he palmed his eyes to clear his tears. “I’m Yamaguchi.”

“Get yourself cleaned up and go home. Don’t ever let people talk to you that way, again.  You’re more than that.”

Yamaguchi stared in silence with tears in his eyes as if it was the first time someone's ever said something like that to him before. It took him a moment to realize that Tsukishima asked him a question, before he blinked back to life and looked at him clutching his finger. “I can’t go home when you’re looking like you’re in pain, at least let me help?” Not even letting him answer, he crawled to the contents of his bag sprawled on the ground and picked up a crumbled package of bandages. He paused and teared up as he stared at his scattered belongings.

Taking pity on how distraught he was, Tsukishima couldn’t help but give him an out. “Really. I don’t need help. I’m fine. Honest.”

“You can drop the tough guy act.” He wiped his eyes before he grabbed a bandage and brought it to Tsukishima. “Now give it here, your voice isn’t fooling me. You’re hurting.”

“It’s nothing a bandage will fix.”

Surprisingly, someone who was mere moments before at the mercy of bullies was surprisingly adamant about the situation. Ignoring Tsukishima’s demands, he grabbed his hand and pulled it toward him. Tsukishima nearly put up a fuss about it but noticed that the thread around his finger was taut and vibrating every time Yamaguchi moved.

Tsukishima stared at him suspiciously.  “Who are you, really?”

“I’m Yamaguchi Tadashi, Grade 5. We’re in the same class _Tsukki_.  I guess you wouldn’t remember me. I kind of get that a lot, pretty plain faced and forgettable apart from my…”

“Stop.” Tsukishima interrupted, ignoring the random nickname. It was clear how he never realized how they were in the same class. Apart from his freckles and barely olive green hair, he was nondescript and scrawny, easily able to blend with the other students in class. Shaking the thought away, Tsukishima immediately clarified.  “Can you see a red string, on my finger?” He could barely contain the hope and longing in his voice. Something about the idea that the person it trailed to could see it, stirred something in his heart.

Yamaguchi stared at his hand, ready to wrap a dinosaur bandage around it. “No, why?”

Tsukishima’s heart sank like an anchor in the water.  Yamaguchi wasn’t the one he was looking for, he wasn’t the one that would satisfy this feeling, this longing for companionship that he wanted.

Or so he thought. Yamaguchi stuck to him like glue afterwards, as if the bond they forged through adversity was binding and unbreakable. He wondered how Yamaguchi saw it. The constant ways he tried to get his attention, even if overly blatant with how often he agreed with whatever Tsukishima said or how he clung to him like a _doppelgänger_ , made him wonder if he fell in love with the prince who saved him. The way he always looked at him with stars and hearts in his eyes was comical, but after going through school for so long without any type of companion or friend, it was an acceptable trade off. 

Tsukishima just wondered, or rather felt, like he wanted to experience what Yamaguchi was feeling. Could he find someone that could put hearts in his eyes, and make him smile just by walking with them, talking with them, even just thinking of them, and make his heart, probably, flutter the same way he did for Yamaguchi? The string made him think that he could.  Hanging around Yamaguchi convinced him that it was linked with his heart. It responded to his emotions, growing taut when he smiled and laughed with Yamaguchi as they swung on swings they’d slowly outgrew and it grew loose when they were away from each other. Every time he wondered if there was something more between them, that warm feeling vanished and the string cooled, fell loose, and faded.

it wasn't until the first day of high school that the string started to act weird, staying taut no matter what he thought. Tsukishima thought nothing of it at first, it was its normal behavior whenever they were near each other. Though while Yamaguchi was in the middle of reminding him that volleyball tryouts were later, the string suddenly warmed. It was a different feeling, one that surprised him and made him trip on his feet.

“Tsukki,” Yamaguchi said in that overly caring manner that caused some in the hallway to stare at them curiously.

“Tis not.” Tsukishima swallowed his words as he watched the string glow brightly and stretch to the end of the hall before turning. He blinked a few times in disbelief. It was the first time he’d seen it extend that far. Thoughtlessly pushing his bag into Yamaguchi’s hands, he sprinted forward as he followed the string with tons of hopes on his heart and mind. He needed to see if this was it.

Just as he rounded the corner, he tumbled backwards, downwards, and had the wind knocked out of him. He hit the floor hard.

“Tsukki!” Yamaguchi’s scream and frantic footsteps pierced through the ringing in Tsukishima’s ears. Head throbbing, he tried to rub it, but his arms were pinned by a boy on top of him.

“You oversized beanpole, what were you doing there?” The boy asked as he quickly sat up and _glared_ down at him. As whatever _glare_ the boy was trying to do came off more cutely than he intended, as if he were a kid puffing his cheeks up with dramatized anger, Tsukishima found it impossible to even feel angry or annoyed.

Expression softening as he giggled, he calmly spoke.  “So says the idiot who charged around a corner.”

“Idiot?! Is that what you say to someone you just tried to kill? You glasses headed wall.” High-wired and lacking a volume button, the boy was loud.

“Pfft. Is that the best you can come up with, pipsqueak?” Tsukishima couldn’t hide the smile that formed as he fell into the boy’s pace. Though it was his first time meeting him, there was something familiar yet refreshing about talking with him. Something in his chest warmed and filled him with a fuzzy feeling, something he didn't get with Yamaguchi.

The boy clicked his tongue as he finally got off him. “Thanks to you, you made me lose sight of it. Now where did it go?” He didn’t even stick around and wait for an answer. As he left with eyes searching near and far, Tsukishima quickly memorized his orange hair and small build. Something in him wanted to make him reach out and tell him to wait up. But Yamaguchi's head filled his view, blocking his view of the boy.

“Tsukki, are you alright? You didn’t hurt your head, did you?  You’re spacing out in the middle of the hall.” Yamaguchi’s hands rushed to Tsukishima’s head searching for a bump. Tsukishima would have swatted him away, but his mind was still focused on that boy as he wondered who he was.

That boy proved to be immensely distracting for Tsukishima throughout the entire day. His mind wouldn’t let him forget about him. It constantly replayed and reenacted their chance encounter. Each time he pictured it, the boy was even happier, brighter, sunnier than he was previously. His _glare_ looked more and more cute, and his voice, though _obnoxiously_ squeaky and _annoyingly_ loud, sounded more and more melodious and likable. Honestly, he didn’t know what overcame him as his smile never fell from his face as he daydreamed. What was this feeling even?

The string didn’t help either. Unlike how it responded to Yamaguchi with that painful burn and its telepathic situational awareness that always acted impulsively and randomly, it now acted calmly and gently. Its warmth was soothing, like it was a refreshing balm on his skin. And the way it moved and stretched, staying so visible and taut as if it finally found an anchor on the other end, tempted him to move. If only he weren’t in the middle of class.

The moment the final bell rang, signaling the end of class, he bolted out the room, ignoring Yamaguchi’s shout about the volleyball meeting. Tsukishima followed that string all through the school, from building to building, up and down stairs, through corridors, and the library, and finally to…

For the second time that day, the wind was knocked out of him as he fell to the ground.

“What’s a telephone pole doing out in the middle of the hallway!” The boy pushed himself upwards, same glare aimed squarely at Tsukishima.

“What’s an elementary schooler doing at a high school? Are you lost little boy?” Tsukishima teased as he stared through glasses knocked askew. The boy looked even more adorable than he did earlier.

The boy puffed his cheeks out as he flared up. “I am not a little boy!”

Tsukishima chuckled as he grinned. Only wanting to make the moment last as long as possible, he continued to tease him. “Coulda fooled me, squirt.” 

“But you have more eyes than the rest of us.” He said as he leaned forward and adjusted Tsukishima’s glasses with a surprising amount of care and concern. His hands on his glasses lingered as he suddenly found interest in Tsukishima’s golden eyes. Cheeks deflating as his expression softened into a concentrated smile paired with cheeks growing slightly pinker, his golden eyes sparkled as he gazed at Tsukishima.  

Warming up to the feeling of such a precious boy staring at him in such a way, Tsukishima teased him as he matched his smile. “Har! Har.”

The boy giggled as he stayed on top of him. They stared at each other with smiles plastered on their faces. At times it was like they were afraid to move, content with just eyeing each other, staring and memorizing each others eyes, cheeks, mouth, and hair, like there was just so much to stare in wonder at and to marvel at. However, when the dismissal bell rang, the boy grumbled something about volleyball, before he moved and stood. He extended a helping hand to Tsukishima. However, just as soon as Tsukishima took it, the boy’s smile grew brighter as something seemed to flow between the two of them. “It, it, it was you?! All this time, it was you?” The boy said excitedly as his eyes flicked from hand to face and back again.

Tsukishima cocked his head.

“Your finger, my, my, my, look!” He hopped as he held both their hands.

That red thread was now two and tied in a knot around a similar one that extended from the boy’s finger. Tsukishima was at a loss of words.

“You don’t know?” The boy smiled as if he was proud of knowing something Tsukishima didn’t.

“If I knew I wouldn’t ask.”

The boy cheesed as he teased. “Come on, don’t you feel it? Like that _gurgle gurgle swoosh swoosh flutter flutter_ in your chest? You know?” He interlinked their fingers as he stared at him in amazement. “How about now? Anything, no _badump dadump thump thump? Doki doki?”_

Tsukishima wanted to laugh at how he described it, but yes, he realized, everything he felt ever since his first run in with the boy was exactly like that. The  _doki doki_ that he read in manga was real, and this boy, this  _love at first_ sight was, was, was, real. Tsukishima gasped as he stared at the boy. What would have been mere fiction was actually real.

“See!” The boy said knowingly. “We’re linked by this string, you know from the _mangas_? Anyway. I’m Hinata Shouyou, nice to meet’cha and starting today, we’re like, you know.” His face grew red as he turned away and coughed perhaps unwilling to actually say _lovers_. “Fine, we’re friends today but in the future we’ll be, you know.” He chuckled offhandedly.

Tsukishima smiled fondly as a sudden absence inside of him felt full as this new rambunctious cheerful presence, this new friend, seemed like it was what was always supposed to belong there.

**Author's Note:**

> Goshiki Hinata may be my main ship forever, but TsukiHina is still what got me into Haikyuu!! and continues to tie Goshina for my fav pairing. So, after recently editing my years old 60K word tsukihina fic, I was like I just want to write Tsukihina again. Fortunately a friend group has little writing contests and the theme was about being "tied together" so that's how this came together. 
> 
> In any case, hope this worked. String has a mind of its own and obeys its own rules. Might revisit the concept in a multi-chapter form someday...


End file.
